My last blog post was September 10, 2018. There never seem to be enough time or energy to complete posting about my trip to Cuba in May 2017. Now, all I have it time (outside the hours that I am scheduled to work from home).

March 21, 2020 was the last day that I spent any length of time outside my home. Before that, the evening of March 11th was my last day in my office at work. I am now holed up in my home somehow hoping that I may be one of the “lucky” ones to have had a mild asymptomatic form of covid-19 so that I could have already developed the antibodies. (NOTE: I don’t know if I’ve had coronavirus or not, but being a high functioning germophobe, this outcome is my ideal.)

This virus has made all of us a much more contagious version of Typhoid Mary. I’ve been staying home on “pause” in New York, the epic center of the pandemic in the U.S. I do this for the medical staff (nurses and doctors), other essential workers (grocery store workers, public transportation workers, police officers, EMT/EMS workers, firemen and firewomen, garbage workers, and all the others I can’t recall this minute). I stay home for all humans who have a compromised immune system and for those who I may infect as a possible coronavirus carrier. I stay home to bend the curve so that one day soon we can all go out and enjoy the sun, time with friends and a good meal.

So to past the time until we can all go out “safely,” I watched a lot of TV. I’ve developed an appreciation for older shows like Murder She Wrote, Hart to Hart, and Diagnosis Murder. I’ve watched some “new-to-me” shows like Schitt’s Creek and the Ozarks. I’ve gorged myself on true crime shows on ID, CourtTV and Oxygen; historic programs like Mysteries of the Abandoned and Mysteries at the Museum; on cartoons like Primal (Cartoon Network), Duncanville, the Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and Final Space (originally on TBS). My TV has been on 24/7 keeping me company and providing a sense of comfort during the overnight hours, even while I sleep.

I communicate with friends via text and Zoom. I started posting again on my Instagram and began actively using Twitter. Now, I am revving up my Savory Sweet and Neat blog. My first post after this one will be about my last day in Cuba in May 2017. This along with my continuously watching/listening to my TV as I continue to “pause.”

#stayhome #socialdistance #istayhomefor #newyorktough #stopthespread #bendthecurve #savehumanity #maintainsanity